Just as good customer service is the store's responsibility,
good customer behavior is yours. Follow these steps to make life
easier for employees, and possibly make your own experience more
pleasant as well.
Steps
- Call ahead to check availability of popular items. It's far
better than driving to the store, parking half a mile away, walking
deep into the aisles, and wasting the time of a clerk who can't
find it.
- When chasing after an item on sale, bring the printed ad with
you (or at least write down the item number) to speed things up and
avoid confusion about the price.
- Put things back where you found them. When you knock something
down from a rack or shelf, pick it up and put it back!
- Be patient when in line. Sighing, groaning, and inappropriate
language won't make it move any faster.
- If you find that an item is priced 15 cents lower at the other
end of the store, let it go. Having someone run a price check over
insignificant amounts isn't worth your time, the clerk's, or that
of the people behind you.
- Don't be hasty to return items (especially electronics) you
can't figure out how to use. When in doubt, either ask and/or study
the owner's manual, and allow a few days' learning curve.
- Leave the store with a smile and wish the clerk a nice
day.
Tips
- Put yourself in the shoes of the clerk, who must constantly
deal with lines and lines of customers, many of them impatient and
some of them rude.
- Many sites deal with the negative experiences of both customers
and employees at specific retail stores. Reading some of the vents
might give you an idea of what behaviors (and what stores) to
avoid.
